Signed Copies Shipping Now

“Calling After Water invigorates the natural affinity I have had for lakes, rivers and streams since I was a young boy growing up amongst the Great Lakes. Karczynski has always been one of my favorite writers, and this book takes the game to another level. His prose is very much like my favorite little trout stream—cool, crystal clear, flowing with purpose, and most of all… pure.”

“Few writers can evoke the true emotional acuity attendant to angling. Dave Karczynski is one.”

“Karczynski balances wit with thought-provoking insights, drawing from his angling experiences in nature. His precise attention to words and sentences patterns his fly selection, and he patiently works with both materials with the same dedication, tying them together on his keyboard and vise. The Irish say there are thin spaces—locales wherein the distance between heaven and earth collapses, offering narrow glimpses of the divine. Karczynski’s writing reveals these thin spaces, hidden in pockets of inspiring descriptions and cunning word usage that stretch beyond imagination.”

“I’m not a big fan of fly-fishing essays because I’m often disappointed that they just don’t capture what a river at sunrise is like. But I’ll read anything Dave Karczynski writes, about any subject. He always tells a great story that never falls flat, and is possibly the best young voice in fly-fishing today.”

“I enjoyed all of these essays for different reasons. The tales of Dave’s far-flung adventures inspired wanderlust. The story of his hardcore, hex-hatch-chasing marathon inspired me to want to fish harder next spring. And the essay where he imagines hearing the origins of his Polish ancestors’ language in the soundtrack of a river as he takes a stream-side nap inspired me to up my own writing. This wonderful book belongs on the shelf of anyone who enjoys a good fishing tale.”

“This book is not simply a recounting of derring-do and exotic adventures. Dave’s strength is his writing itself. His prose is vibrant, exciting. What springs off the page is a sense of boundless joy, a feeling as if you are catching each fish yourself. I want to grab my gear, run out the door and experience each chapter for myself. Dave’s love of the sport bursts from each sentence, but his sense of overwhelming joy is what sets him apart. And all of it is delivered with his characteristic good humor and bonhomie. I regularly found myself laughing out loud while reading it.”

“I also love flyfishing, but the real beauty of Calling After Water comes down to exceptional storytelling. This is the result not just of good writing, but of ruthless, relentless re-writing—reviewing and revising each sentence until it has a rhythm and flow that can’t even be adequately described. Dave just knows it when he sees it. He doesn’t just fix “bad” sentences, he takes already great sentences and intuitively knows they can be better. And he makes them better. Enjoy this book and enjoy your fishing.”

“Great writers effortlessly transport their readers to places near and far flung, real and imagined, familiar and foreign. But great fly fishing writers go further, embracing and entrancing two often times disparate audiences — those who don’t fly fish and those who do.

Dave Karczynski is one of those great fly fishing writers — and Calling After Water is a testament to that fact…. a beautifully written and genuine look into a fly fishing life that leaves those who chase fish with streamers, dries, and nymphs in a daydream — and everyone else asking Google, “What do I need to start fly fishing?”

“One of the finest compliments you can pay a writer is that they make the hard parts of the job look easy. Dave Karczynski is that guy. Karczynski finds perfect words and turns those words into electric phrases that light up the mind’s eye. And in Calling After Water, he delivers these lightning bolts with regularity. When he writes, ‘A steelhead that leapt as if it wanted to shatter the sky,’ or ‘Waxwings swung from bank to bank as if hanging invisible garlands,’ it seems effortless, graceful and fluid, but leaves an indelible mark. Simply put, Karczynski has the rare and remarkable ability to make words do what he wants them to do. 

Unapologetically, ecstatically fishy, Karczynski also takes the time to revel in the sport’s digressions, curlicues and absurdities. His writing is sophisticated without losing its sense of mischief and charming without being cheesy. Karczynski has caught more fish, traveled to more places and undoubtedly knows how to tie more knots than most of us. Yet, across these nineteen stories, he comes across as modest, funny and easy to root for. And because he’s such a skilled writer, these stories whiz by with palpable energy, and every single one ends too quickly. Very highly recommended.”

“Dave is a talented writer and his stories are full of detail, humor, expertise, humility, and adventure near and far. You feel as though Dave is riding shotgun on a long road trip while sharing his experiences. A highly recommended read.”

“I know I’ll return to these stories over and over again. Partly because they capture the fishing life so well, and partly for the sheer joy of Karczynski’s pitch-perfect observations: northern Wisconsin spring creeks clear as paint thinner; iridescent Polish grayling shining like they’ve been dipped in motor oil; and the way a violent day of pike fishing recalibrates an angler’s nervous system to a generalized expectation of ambush. And Karczynski shows his cards enough that a reader is always laughing out loud at some piece of wry humor or nodding along with legitimately lovely considerations of how family, pals and nature fit into his journeys.”

“Calling After Water means it’s time to spark that Fuente, take words to the porch, and enjoy a fly fishing stoke reel for the soul.”